Woodlawn Cemetery has contracted out an independent review to investigate racism and favoritism allegations made by employees who claim the cemetery has ignored past complaints and has done little to improve their work environment.

On a recent Friday afternoon, nearly 30 demonstrators – mostly black and Latino workers dressed in hard hats and construction boots — joined with leaders from a south Bronx community group and Councilman Charles Barron outside the northeastern gates of the famous north Bronx cemetery to make employees’ complaints public and demand action, including the removal of at least one cemetery foreman.

The cemetery employees, who have filed discrimination complaints with the Equal Opportunity Commission as well as internally, did not attend because they said they feared retribution from administrators.

In a statement, cemetery spokesman Gary Lewi said, “We take seriously the allegations that have been presented as evidenced by our decision to underwrite an independent review.” 

Lewi said the review, which is being conducted by the law offices of Collazo, Florentino and Keel LLP, began in April. He said Woodlawn’s board of directors wanted to “make sure that the rights of all workers were always honored and protected.”

Lewi said the investigation was “under way,” but “still in the earliest stages.”

Ramon Jimenez, a lawyer and community organizer with the South Bronx Community Congress (SBCC), said he sat in on the first four interviews of the investigation. The law firm’s office assured him that the investigation would be completed by June 30, Jimenez said. 

Three Woodlawn staffers who described themselves as “general employees” — two Hispanic males and one black male — spoke to the Norwood News on the condition of anonymity for fear of losing their jobs or further harassment.

They said the discriminatory practices being investigated began in 2005, but that they did not voice their complaints until 2008. Jimenez says their complaints were ignored until his group wrote a letter to administrators earlier this year.

On his first day on the job in 2005, one black employee said his foreman addressed him by using a racial slur. He said another foreman introduced himself with a derogatory racial joke.

Another employee said that same foreman often practiced segregation. While driving workers around the cemetery, the foreman would sit all the white workers in the air-conditioned cab of his pickup truck and put all the black and Hispanic workers in the bed of the truck, the employee said.

Employees said the foreman also forced workers to use segregated bathrooms, usually making minority workers use outdoor port-a-potties.

In August 2008, the three employees filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The workers claim their complaint was ignored. Lewi said the allegations were unsubstantiated. (An EEOC spokesman said that it was commission policy not to comment on complaints or even confirm whether a complaint had been made).

The three workers then filed an internal complaint with cemetery administrators. This measure only made work more difficult, they said.

Following the internal complaint, one of the workers said the foreman warned him to, “Watch your back.”

One day, while landscaping, a Hispanic worker said his supervisor and foreman drove up to him and then circled him numerous times and taunted the worker. “It was like a scene out of ‘Mississippi Burning,’” the employee said.

“That same day I caught the president of the cemetery on the way to his car and told him what happened,” the Hispanic employee said. “He just told me to tell my supervisor. The man who was harassing me!”

It was not until the workers contacted the SBCC that any action was taken on their behalf.

At the protest rally on July 16, demonstrators brandished signs reading, “Stop Racism” and chanted, “We’re Fired Up, We Can’t Take It No More.” (There were also signs directed at the foreman in question. Norwood News has decided not to publish the foreman’s name since we were unable to speak to him or a representative.)

Brooklyn Councilman Charles Barron, who frequently gets involved in racial controversies, told the crowd of demonstrators that city government needed to address the alleged racism at the cemetery and that he would pursue talks with the mayor to ensure justice was served.

Workers say the harassment and racist slurs have quieted over the last few months as a result of the ongoing investigation, the demonstration and the pressure put on cemetery officials by Jimenez and the SBCC.